The Essentials:
Wizards (0-0, 26-56) vs. Mavericks (0-0, 55-27)
8:30 p.m.
American Airlines Center
TV: CSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Notable Mavericks numbers last season
12th in expected winning percentage (.593)
17th in pace (92.5 possessions per game)
10th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (109.2 points/100 possessions)
12th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (106.2 points allowed/100 possessions)
Pre-game links
Mavs Moneyball, SB Nation's Mavericks Blog
MM's game thread
The Two Man Game
Michael Lee's preview
Craig Stouffer's preview
Fanhouse's preview
Wizards.com's preview
Mark Cuban on quantitative analysis in the NBA
LaVar Arrington on Gilbert Arenas
Box Seats: JaVale McGee getting outplayed by statistical equivalent of Uwe Blab
SB Nation D.C. remembers the Caron/Haywood/Stevenson era
Reminder: CSN's doing a Wizards preview show before every game
DMN: Stevenson proving doubters wrong
Mavs Fast Break: Shootaround report
| Tonight's Projected Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wizards | vs. | Mavericks |
| John Wall (!!!) | PG | Jason Kidd |
| Gilbert Arenas | SG | Caron Butler |
| Kirk Hinrich | SF | Shawn Marion |
| Andray Blatche | PF | Dirk Nowitzki |
| JaVale McGee | C | Brendan Haywood |
UPDATE: Well then. Flip Saunders says he will start the three-guard lineup -- Wall, Gilbert Arenas, and Kirk Hinrich.
John Wall will finally take the court with other NBA players tonight, and it's going to be awesome. As of right now, it remains an open question whether Gilbert Arenas will join him. Kirk Hinrich is currently listed as the starter, but Arenas could come into the game for a few minutes, according to CSN's Chris Miller.
Gilbert Arenas took part in morning shoot around listed as game time decision. He'll likely play a few minutes.
Tonight also marks the first time we'll see Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson playing their former teams. It's preseason, so it doesn't matter, but I put together that SB Nation D.C. retrospective regardless.
A couple other quick thoughts.
- The Arenas injury thing seems a bit odd, but I'll reserve judgement until we see how it all plays out.
- It is interesting, yet not surprising, that Flip Saunders has passed on so much praise to Kirk Hinrich. The whole idea was for him to be a good leader and practice player, so we shouldn't be surprised when that holds true.
- LaVar Arrington makes some interesting points in his Arenas piece. He's a football guy, but definitely check it out.
- Kind of funny to see how the Mavericks all view DeShawn Stevenson as a good teammate. Everyone on the Wizards loved DeShawn, and he was always a loyal, standup guy. The issue with him was never how his teammates felt about him; it was that he lost the ability to put the ball in the basket in any way, shape or form.
- I was probably among the most vocal Caron Butler critics last year, but I'm going to be excited to see him play again. I'm curious guys: how much has last year affected your view of Butler as a Wizards? Do you still love him?
- That's a pretty funky lead picture - create a caption ideas?
This is your game thread, which means this is your place to just chat as if you were chatting in person. GO WIZARDS!